EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Prior to Saturday night’s event at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J., Antonio Silva told anyone willing to listen that he was going to hand Fedor Emelianenko his second-straight defeat.

When it came time to deliver on his promise, Silva made good.

After an evenly matched opening round, Silva battered Emelianenko from start to finish in the second frame and earned a TKO stoppage in the main event of the Showtime-broadcast event.

The heavyweight tournament fight opened as a tightly contested affair. Emelianenko’s trademark hooks scored from both sides, and he remained upright as Silva tried to work the fight to the floor. Both fighters showed flashes of brilliance, and neither gained a true edge. In fact, the round was split on the judges’ cards, with two scores leaning toward Emelianenko and the third to Silva.

But when second round opened, Silva took complete control of the fight. Ducking under the opening punch, Silva worked the fight to floor and put on a clinic. Working from top position, Silva spun from half-guard to side control to mount with relative ease, all the while pounding away on Emelianenko’s head with his massive fists.

Emelianenko bucked and rolled, but Silva maintained his base and alternated between rear-naked choke attempts and ground-and-pound blows. As the round wore on, the damage mounted, and Emelianenko’s face showed the signs of the wear.

In the closing seconds, Silva elected to change things up and turned to attack the leg. Leaving his own leg exposed, Silva gave hope to the pro-Emelianenko crowd as the Russian went for his own leglock. However, Silva quickly silenced the IZOD Center by waving his finger in defiance of the hold. Silva relaxed until the bell, and celebration would come shortly after.

Emelianenko returned to the corner, and his right eye was bruised and swollen shut. Attending doctors needed little time to determine the former top pound-for-pound fighter was unable to see, and the fight was waved off. It took a moment for news to spread through the cage, as Silva continued to prepare for the final frame.

He wouldn’t need it.

Having outstruck Emelianenko 72-36 in the 10-minute fight according to a CompuStrike report, not to mention netting three of four takedown attempts, Silva was awarded the TKO win at the close of the second frame.

An emotional Silva gave respect to his opponent as he celebrated the win.

“I won over the best heavyweight in the world, Fedor,” Silva said.

Meanwhile, Emelianenko made no excuses. This was not a split-second mistake. This was a beatdown, and the Russian strongly suggested he might have entered the cage for the final time.

“Something went wrong from the very beginning, and I didn’t re-adjust myself,” Emelianenko said through an interpreter. “Maybe it’s time leave.”

When pressed further on the matter by Showtime broadcaster Gus Johnson, Emelianenko didn’t change his position.

With the win, Silva (16-2 MMA, 3-1 SF) has now earned three-straight wins under the Strikeforce banner and will meet the winner of an April bout between Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum in a semifinal match. Meanwhile, Emelianenko, he suffered just one controversial loss in nine years, has now dropped back-to-back fights.

In the evening’s co-feature and first heavyweight tournament contest, tournament dark horse Sergei Kharitonov made an impressive statement to Strikeforce fans – and brought even more doubt to the future of Andrei Arlovski.

Arlovski opened up with slick footwork while displaying his trademark speedy striking. Finding a home for his jab and beating Kharitonov to the punch, Arlovski looked to have found the form that made him a UFC star in 2005.

But just as soon as it was established, the vintage form went away. Arlovski allowed Kharitonov to back him up to the cage, closing the distance and negating the speed differential. It was the beginning of the end.

Working the body and firing uppercuts from close range, Khartinov stunned Arlovski, and the former UFC champ never recovered. Dropped with a powerful punch, Arlovski tried to use his legs to keep Kharitonov away, but the Russian delivered a pair of ground-and-pound blows that left his opponent unconscious on the canvas.

Despite a striking edge of just 32 to 22 over Arlovski according to a CompuStrike report, Kharitonov earned the stoppage at just 2 minutes and 49 seconds of the opening frame.

Following the win, Kharitonov said he was unconcerned with the MMA pundits who give him little chance to earn the grand prix victory.

“I couldn’t care less what the experts think,” Kharitonov said through an interpreter. “I know I’m going to win this tournament.”

Kharitonov (18-4 MMA, 1-0 SF) is now 5-1 in his past six outings and will face the winner of an April contest between Josh Barnett and Brett Rogers in the heavyweight tournament semifinals. Meanwhile, Arlovski (15-9 MMA, 0-3 SF) has now been knocked out in three of his past four appearances and will likely face intense questioning regarding the future of his career.

With nary a career decision between heavyweights Shane Del Rosario and Lavar Johnson, a quick finish seemed inevitable. When the two clashed at the opening bell of their heavyweight tournament reserve fight, the pre-fight predictions proved true.

Johnson looked crisp early as he worked frequently from the clinch with knees and punches inside while also striking heavy from the outside to the head and body. But Del Rosario weathered the early storm and turned the tide of the fight as the opening round wore on.

With Johnson off-balance from a lunging punch, Del Rosario countered with a few strikes of his own before scoring a critical takedown. With Johnson on his back, Del Rosario advanced to the mount and used a few peppering ground-and-pound blows to force his opponent to open up for a submission.

Johnson’s arms extended, Del Rosario latched on and spun out for a perfectly executed armbar submission. Johnson’s arm was fully extended, and while he tried to counter, he had no choice but to tap.

With the win, Del Rosario (11-0 MMA, 3-0 SF) maintains his perfect record and is expected to serve as the first alternate in Strikeforce’s heavyweight tournament. Meanwhile, Johnson (15-4 MMA, 3-1 SF) sees a seven-fight win streak snapped.

The two heavyweights each showed flashes of speed and power as they stood toe-to-toe from moment one. Villante mixed in a few knees in the early going, but it was Griggs’ straight punches that were doing the most damage. Villante looked a bit wobbled in the opening minutes, but he answered with a flashy high kick and earned a brief reprieve after losing his mouthpiece.

Griggs was undeterred.

“The Grave Digger” fired off more heavy punches on the restart, and Villante dropped from the blows. With his ear bleeding from the earlier attacks, Griggs unloaded with a few ground-and-pound blows that forced referee Yves Lavigne to halt the contest at the 2:49 mark of the opening frame.

With two hard-hitting strikers kicking off the evening’s broadcast, it was Dutch banger Valentijn Overeem who reverted to grappling to claim victory over Ray Sefo in a heavyweight tournament reserve match.

The two traded briefly on the feet, but Overeem’s speed advantage was countered well by Sefo’s defensive tactics and powerful overhand countershots. Sensing little edge on the feet, Overeem ducked down for a telegraphed shot that somehow toppled his foe. From there, the end came quickly.

Finding himself in side control, Overeem wrapped his arms around his opponent’s head and cranked the neck, forcing a Sefo tappet just 97 seconds into the bout.

As the UFC 189 tour made its last stop in Dublin, featherweight champ Jose Aldo was met with a torrent of abuse from the Irish fans. It might have been unpleasant, but it might also have been just what he needed.